Bomb explosion injured officer followed with militant arrest in North Sumatra

A bomb explosion wounded an Indonesian police officer on Tuesday following the arrest of a suspected Islamic militant at a house on the island of Sumatra, a police spokesman said. Officers had arrested the suspect in Sibolga, North Sumatra, and were still at the property when the device exploded about 30 minutes later, National Police spokesman Muhammad Iqbal said.

The wife and child of the suspect have also been at the house at the time and officers were negotiating their surrender, he said, adding that police had set up a perimeter around the building. The suspect was linked to another militant arrested at the weekend in the southern part of Sumatra, who was suspected of planning a bomb attack at Lampung police headquarters, said Iqbal.

Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country and most of its people practise a moderate form of Islam, though there has been a resurgence in homegrown militancy in recent years. Police were the target of a number of attacks last year, including a suicide bombing at police headquarters in East Java and knife attack at Jambi police headquarters.

(With inputs from agencies.)